Orcs
Orcs were a race of sentient slaves beings that were bred by Morgoth, and then Sauron, Saruman, and other dark servants of evil in Middle-earth; similar to but with a higher stature than traditional goblins. Orcs were the most commonplace villains serving the Dark Powers in Tolkien Mythology. Orcs are used as soldiers and henchmen by both the greater and lesser villains of The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings — Morgoth, Sauron and Saruman. The Orcs, here called Goblins, also work independently as the common antagonists in The Hobbit. in Two Towers.]] History Origins The origin of Orcs is open to many questions. In Tolkien's writings, evil is not capable of independent creation, making it unlikely that the Vala Morgoth, who was obviously the first to produce them, could do that ex nihilo ''(Lat. "out of nothing"). Unlike the ''orc-néas ("orc-corpses") of Beowulf, no female orcs are ever mentioned by Tolkien, and likewise Peter Jackson's films never show any of the orcs as female. Presumably, an all male race would be incapable of sexual reproduction thus there were probably no female orcs. However, one of Tolkien's theories possibly contradicts this (see below), and, in The Silmarillion, Tolkien stated, "For the Orcs had life and multiplied after the manner of the Children of "Illuvatar". It is also stated that Bolg was the son of Azog, which implies that Bolg had a mother. There remains the possibility that this was intended to be taken as a metaphor in some unexplained way. Corrupted Elves But, Tolkien later changed his mind so that Morgoth could no longer produce life on his own, and amended the origins to the "theory" that would eventually be published in The Silmarillion: that the Orcs of Angband were transformed from Elves — the purest form of life on Arda (the Earth) — by means of torture and mutilation; and this "theory" would then become the most popular one. This theory is also stated in the live action film version of the Fellowship of the Ring. Saruman explains to the Uruk-Hai leader Lurtz the history of the Orc's origins. On the other hand, if Orcs were in fact Elves at their core, this could perhaps mean that they were also immortal — a fact which, if true, would seem inconsistent with Tolkien's treatment of orcs, although the books do not openly confirm or deny it. If orcs indeed were immortal, it holds no doubt that their ''Fëar'' would not be allowed reincarnation by Mandos, if they even answered the calling. Most orcs would probably fear the calling of Mandos, and therefore would see their fëar diminished to evil spirits. These may have been some of the evil spirits occasionally described in the books, such as the spirit which tempted Gorlim of Barahir's company, or the Barrow-wights. There is some evidence for the immortality, or otherwise long life of orcs in The Two Towers: Gorbag and Shagrat, during the conversation which Sam overheard, mention the "Great Siege" of the Last Alliance. It is possible to interpret from the sentence that they were actually there and remembered it themselves: an event which lay millennia in the past. Another interpretation of this conversation is that this "Great Siege" could have instead been merely the current siege ongoing at Minas Tirith, or the siege of Minas Morgul. This is consistent with a statement made in the "Myths Transformed" essay of Morgoth's Ring that the Orcs had shorter lifespans in relation to the Númenóreans. However, the pair also seems to pine for the "good old days" when Uruk-Hai captains such as themselves could operate independently with a small band of followers. This had not been true in Mordor for many lives of Men. Fallen Maiar There are hints in The History of Middle-earth series of books, (especially in Morgoth's Ring in the section "Myths Transformed"), that some Orc leaders, such as the First Age's Boldog, or the Great Goblin encountered by Bilbo and the Dwarves, may in fact have been fallen Maiar which had taken Orc form: :Some of these things may have been delusions and phantoms but some were no doubt shapes taken by the servants of Melkor, mocking and degrading the very forms of the children, for Melkor had in his service great numbers of Maiar, who had the power, as their Master, of taking visible and tangible shape in Arda. (Morgoth's Ring, "Myths transformed", text X') :Boldog (…) is a name that occurs many times in the tales of the War. But it is possible that Boldog was not a personal name, and either a title, or else the name of a kind of creature: the Orc-formed Maiar, only less formidable than the Balrogs (Author's footnote to the text X) :Melkor had corrupted many spirits - some great as Sauron, or less as Balrogs. The least could have been primitive Orcs. (Author's note to text) Some cross-bred with Men Later under Morgoth's lieutenant, the necromancer Sauron, it has been suggested that Men were cross-bred with the Orcs. This process was later repeated during the War of the Ring, by the Wizard Saruman the White, creating the fierce Orcs known as Black Uruks. This also could suggest that there were, in fact, female Orcs. Alternately it could suggest that human or elf females were raped or forced to breed with the all male race of Orcs. It also may suggest that men instead of Elves were used in the same way as Orcs. Men working for Morgoth after many generation's would have been almost orc like, then forced to breed with them, making new breeds. Sentient beasts Yet another of Tolkien's theories proposes that Orcs may have begun as animals of vaguely humanoid shapes, empowered by the will of the Dark Lord (first Morgoth, later Sauron): :The Orcs were beasts of humanized shape (…). ('Morgoth's Ring', "Myths transformed", text VIII') It is certain all Orcs were dependent on the Dark Lord in various ways: after their leader was defeated, the Orcs were confused and dismayed, and easily scattered by their enemies. In the millennia after Morgoth's defeat and banishment from Arda, they were without a leader, and degenerated to small, quarrelsome tribes hiding in the Misty Mountains. Only when Sauron returned to power did they begin to reclaim some of their old power. The same happened after Sauron's defeat by the Last Alliance of Elves and Men: only when Sauron returned as the Necromancer of Mirkwood did the Orcs become a real danger for Middle-earth again. While Tolkien originally saw all Orcs as descended from tortured Elves, later comments of his indicate, according to Christopher Tolkien in Morgoth's Ring ("Myths Transformed, text X"), that he began to feel uncomfortable with this theory. At about the same time he removed the references to the Thrall-Ñoldorin, he also began searching for a new origin for the Orcs. The Orc origin question may have been one of the problems Tolkien tried to solve by completely changing the cosmology and prehistory of Arda. By setting the origin of Men back to almost the same time as the Elves, he possibly allowed for Men to be the origin of Orcs all along. Tolkien died before he could complete this upheaval of the cosmology, however, so the Elf origin was adopted in the published version of The Silmarillion. It is interesting to note that to an extent, Tolkien did not regard Orcs as evil in their own right, but only as tools of Morgoth and Sauron. He wrote once that "we were all Orcs in the Great War", indicating perhaps that an Orc for him was not an inherent build-up of personality, but rather a state of mind bound upon destruction. Early Accepting the theory that they originated from Elves, Orcs were first bred in Melkor's great underground fortresses of Utumno and Angband, during the early Years of the Trees when Melkor effectively ruled all of Middle-earth. Their role in these early days has never been explained but it is possible they toiled as laborers building up the arsenals of their master and perhaps used as spies as well. After the Valar defeated the forces of Melkor in a War that ended his power for a time, the orcs probably survived in the deep caves, pits, chambers, and tunnels of both ruined fortresses. During the Melkor's captivity in Valinor, the orcs presumably remained hidden either underground or in the wastes of the North, where they multiplied steadily. As Melkor's chief lieutenants Sauron and Gothmog were not captured or killed, the orcs may have been under their command directly or indirectly. Whether under any of Melkor's chief lieutenant or not, the orcs came out of the north and into the Beleriand during the third age of the chaining. Wary but savage, they but smelled their way slowly through the southern lands in the dark accompanied other foul beasts in wolf-form. They were first seen by the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains (Ered Luin) who reported them to King Thingol, the High Lord of the Sindar. At first, the Sindar thought these creatures Avari that had turned evil and savage in the wild. The appearances of the orcs led Thingol seeking for heavy weapons of war which they had previous not needed and paid the dwarves to forge. The War of the Jewels For over a millennia, the orcs were only a minor problem but when Melkor (Morgoth) returned with the Silmarils he took full charge of them and soon unleashed them on the Beleriand. At first, the newly organized orcs were successful killing Denethor, the King of the lightly armed Laiquendi but were eventually defeated by Thingol and his allies, but continued besieging the Havens of the Falas under Círdan which wasn't broken until the arrival of the Ñoldor. The heavy losses that the Sindar suffered to the orcs frighten them to the point that Melian, Queen of Doriath raised a great enchanted wall to protect themselves. The Laiquendi, who suffered the most in the battle hid themselves in the Ossiriand under the cloak of secrecy or took refuge in Doriath. When the House of Fëanor returned to Middle-earth, Morgoth sent a force of orcs against them and although they outnumbered the exiles they were no match for the power and wrath of the Ñoldor, and were quickly and easily defeated. However, Fëanor could not defeat the power of Morgoth alone and so was he was killed leaving the orcs to continue to breed under the Dark Lord. Years later as the House of Fingolfin arrived in Middle-earth, orcs were sent against them as well but were utterly defeated in the Battle of the Lammoth. The orcs despite their viciousness and williness to kill were proven weak in the face of the superiority in arms of the Ñoldor but even knowing this, Morgoth once again used them in great numbers against the Ñoldor thinking them busy with others matters. Once again the orcs were defeated utterly in a complete victory that confined them to Angband for almost four-hundred years. In this time, Morgoth never again used them, save for one lone attack in such massive numbers. Orcs were instead withheld until the right time and on occasion used as spies. Orcs and Goblins In The Hobbit, Tolkien used the word "Goblins" for Orcs, because he had not yet identified the world of The Hobbit with Middle-earth (which predated The Hobbit by several decades, in early writings which would later become The Silmarillion). Fortunately Tolkien did include some references to his mythology in the Hobbit, which later allowed him to identify the lands of the Hobbit with his Middle-earth. The term "Orc" does occur, but only in an instance where Gandalf is trying to scare Bilbo by mentioning creatures of the wilderness, and it also is mentioned by Professor Tolkien when Bilbo is fleeing the Misty Mountains and Professor Tolkien says that Bilbo does not know that the "big goblins," the Orcs of the mountains, run along at such a speed that they are almost bent double; perhaps implying that hobbits do not know of Orcs or if they make no connection between the goblins of the Battle of Bywater and the orcs which almost conquered Middle-earth in the War of the Ring. In The Lord of the Rings, "Orc" is used predominantly, and "goblin" mostly in the Hobbits' speech. This change can be seen either as a part of the shift towards the use of Elvish words that occurred during the period between the writing of The Hobbit and the writing of The Lord of the Rings, or a translation of the Hobbits' more colloquial manner (if we "accept" the books' authenticity and regard Tolkien merely as a translator). So essentially the race is correctly named "Orc", and "goblin" is a colloquial slang term for Orcs used by Hobbits and sometimes picked up by Men and Elves. This theory is supported by the name of the sword Thorin Oakenshield claims from the Trolls' den, Orcrist, which contains the root word 'Orc', and translates to "The Goblin Cleaver." It is possible that "goblin" refers to those of the orcish race who are not under the control of Sauron (or Morgoth), whereas using "orc" directly would refer to servants of (whichever) Dark Lord, but this is only readers' conjecture. Tolkien did mention several times that orcs were not inherently evil, something this theory would partly emphasize. The original edition of The Hobbit and early drafts of The Lord of the Rings first used 'goblin' everywhere and used 'Hobgoblin' for larger, more evil goblins: when "goblin" and "goblins" were replaced with "Orc" and "Orcs", Tolkien invented the term Uruk-hai for his stronger Orcs. Appearance Orcs appeared manlike (roughly) but looked replusive. They were generally shorter in height then Men and Elves and bow-legged with long arms, dark skin, wide mouths with fangs, and slant eyes. Their blood is black and sour; suggestive of reanimated corpses. They are generally filthy and dirty. Orcs have an insatiable taste for flesh so long as it is fresh and have been known to eat their own kind. Sunlight weakens them and they fear it greatly and seek to avoid it at all costs, similar to the trolls before the Olog-Hai. Culture Orcs are miserable beings and are only able to destroy, not to create. This has been so from the day they were bred by Melkor from corrupted, tortured and mutilated elves that may also have been forced to breed with other unnatural abominations in the dominion of the Dark Powers. They hate themselves and have an even deeper hatred of the Dark Lord and his successors who have brought them to this end. The result was a violent and warlike race in a perpetual state of chaos with itself and others. Despite their abominable nature, they are not dim-witted and are clever and crafty and make good tools, weapons, and machines of war but produce no beautiful things nor do they trade or share anything with others, unless ordered to by a Dark Lord for the purposes of war and conquest. They have also perfected tunnel making and underground living to a fine art where in these places they bred like ants in the darkness away from the light. Wickedness and violence are their nature and are known to quarrel and kill each other over seemingly anything, and are known for despoiling and destroying the good things of the world. An example of this destructiveness was its effect on nature such was the case with Forests and trees which are often destroyed, to fuel their war-making see: Fangorn forest during the War of the Ring and the western part of Middle-earth after Sauron's War on the Elves in the mid-Second Age. They generally hate Elves and Men but some were said to make alliances with wicked dwarf groups and others with Men no doubt for the purposes of pillage, plunder, and division of the spoils of it. Usually without a Dark Lord or one of his servants directing them to a goal of some kind, orcs usually lived in tribal communities in underground lairs under mountains under the rule of brutal chieftains and are usually troublesome to other races that are unfortunate to live near them. Thus, they are hated by almost every race that knows them even those allied with them. Without firm leadership especially in wars, orcs, due to their chaotic way of life have been known to go into complete disarray and in battle are easily scattered and defeated by their enemies with heavy losses. Languages Orcs had a language of their own but also used the Black Speech when dealing in Mordor. The dialects are usually the words from other languages corrupted by them (an insult to a philologist such as Tolkien). Variations Snaga A Snaga the term for the lesser Orc-breed that both Saruman used, as laborers in Isengard and Sauron, who had them first and uses them as the core of his Orc-Host at the Pelennor. Two orcs in the trilogy actually have this name; one is from Isengard mentioned in the chapter The Uruk-hai in the 2nd book, and the other is an orc at Cirith Ungol mentioned in the 1st chapter of Book six, in the third book, and he is slain by Sam in the uppermost chamber where Frodo was kept. This breed was the closest to Goblins in terms of size (but not ferociousness), even though by other orcs they necessarily aren't always underestimated. In fact, Grishnákh, the Orc-captain of Barad-dûr, is portrayed as a snaga in the New Line movie trilogy. In the second New Line film, the Snagae are the ones riding the Wargs from Isengard. Uruk-hai Uruk-hai were a stronger breed of Orc. The Uruks were originally only in Mordor in battle against Ithilien before Sauron returned, during the time Angmar brought war upon Arnor, and these orcs are called Black Uruks. Shagrat was a prime example of a Uruk. Those Uruks are from Barad-dûr only, and are barely seen at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Saruman apparently improved on this kind orc and bred his own. Morannon Orcs Morannon Orcs were a breed of orc similar in size to Uruk-Hai that appeared in the late Third Age, only originating in Mordor. They were larger, standing at least six feet tall, and more stocky. The Morannon orcs were Sauron's primary infantry in War of the Ring at the Battle of Osgiliath, Battle of the Pelennor Fields, Battle of Cair Andros and the Battle of the Morannon. These orcs also knew how to operate siege engines like catapults and battering rams. They were heavy infantry troops and wore heavy thick black armor of sharpened plate steel and were actually taught how to fight and defend, as opposed to the uncontrolled rabbles of the Second Age, or the cowardly Goblins of Moria. They used the same weapons as all of the other orcs in Sauron's army but due to their training, these orcs fought much better and could anticipate enemy attacks faster than the rest of the orcs. Morannon orcs were the most sophisticated breed of orc aside from Uruk-hai. The troops invading Osgiliath and laying siege to Minas Tirith appear to be a mixture of many breeds, mostly Morannon orcs, some Mordor Uruk-hai (Black Uruks) and large factions of lesser orcs. Their skill in battle is very comparable to that of the Uruk-hai; however, they are NOT Uruks. They are merely Orcs superior to normal ones in every way. In Battle for Middle-earth II (expansion pack only), they are called Black Orcs and can be fully upgraded. Morgul Orcs Morgul Orcs were orcs who lived/patrolled in the city of Minas Morgul, in the Morgul Vale. They are not that distinct from basic Snagae (plural of Snaga), ''and the two kinds are basically hard to differ. They participated in The Battle of Osgiliath and in The Battle of the Pelennor Fields. During the War of the Ring, Morgul Orcs numbered at over 150,000 troops. They were armed with orc scimitars, bows, spears, glaves, halberds, other pikes, axes, and odd new-fangled weapons. The lingering orc-hosts in Osgiliath, combined with the host marching from Minas Morgul, made 4 legions, and that excluded the host coming out of Udun which were from Sauron. Outside of Mordor Goblins/Orcs of the Misty Mountains Orcs of the Misty Mountains were the only known non-Mordor and non-Isengard "Glamhoth" in Middle-earth. They were groups that lived in Misty Mountains since Morgoth's final defeat in the War of Wrath where they took refuge. For thousands of years, they plagued the North and drove out the Dwarves of Mount Gundabad by Second Age and were probably used by Sauron in the his War with the Elves and in the War of the Last Alliance. They continued harassing the dwarves until they drove them out and then after the War of the Dwarves and Orcs the dwarves forced them out, but because they refused to claim Khazad-dûm the orcs regained the mountains. They dominated the Misty Mountains in "Goblin-town" until Thorin and Company killed the Great Goblin and won the Battle of the Five Armies. Afterwards, they still infested Moria and the Ettenmoors. They had also lived in the Mountains of Angmar, especially Mount Gundabad, where they served the Witch-King's empire at Carn Dûm until its fall in TA 1975. Unlike regular orcs, the Goblins of the Misty Mountains were not directly allied to Sauron or Saruman, and were primarily self-governing. Their mentioned leaders were alive at various times. And Golfimbul, the only Goblin to ever attack the Shire, and was killed, was the Orc-leader of Mount Gram, the prime mountain in the Ettenmoors, where many goblins and trolls also reside. Other names '"Gorgûn"' was the name that Ghân-buri-Ghân of the wild men of the Drúadan Forest used for the orcs in their own language. Known Orcs Azog '''Azog' was the chief of the Orcs of Moria and best known for starting the War of the Dwarves and Orcs after his murder of Thrór. Balcmeg Balcmeg was one of the Orcs killed in the Fall of Gondolin by Tuor, according to The Book of Lost Tales. Tolkien wrote the story of the fall of the city in 1917 and never fully revised it, and Balcmeg does not appear in the published Silmarillion, although he was obviously of some importance, for only three orcs out of many that Tuor slew in Gondolin were named. Boldog Boldog was a formidable Orc-captain of a Host of Angband that was sent to attack Doriathand capture Lúthien mentioned in The Lay of Leithian in ''The History of Middle-earth''Vol. III, Lays of Beleriand. Bolg Bolg was a Goblin chieftain, the son of Azog, who came to power in Moria after Azog was killed in the war with Dwarves. Bolg ruled Moria for some 150 years and led an army of Orcs in the Battle of Five Armies. He was crushed to death by Beorn's bear form. Golfimbul Golfimbul was a chieftain of the Goblins of Mount Gram, in the Ettenmoors, who led his band in an invasion of The Shire. He was defeated at the Battle of Greenfields by Bullroarer Took. His head was clubbed off by the Bullroarer and fell into a rabbit's hole. According to Hobbit folklore, the name of golf is therefore a shortening of his name. Some fans consider his name specifically constructed for this pun. The Orc incursion in the northern Shire occurred during the reign of Arassuil as Chieftain of the Dúnedain, and the Orcs led by Golfimbul were but the most western pack of Orcs which had left the Hithaeglir. The only reason Golfimbul could make it all the way to the Shire was that the Rangers at the time were fighting many battles with Orcs, preventing them from settling all of Eriador. Gorbag Gorbag was an Orc, the captain of an Orc troop of Minas Morgul, who was slain by Shagrat in the Tower of Cirith Ungol in a dispute during the War of the Ring. In Peter Jackson's film version, Gorbag is killed by Sam during Frodo's rescue. Gorgol Gorgol was an Orc chieftain, also called the Butcher, who lived in Middle-earth during the First Age. He was slain by Beren. Gothmog Gothmog is the Witch-King's loyal commander, likely named after the Balrog Gothmog of the First Age. It is unclear what species he truly belonged to, with possibilities of being Orc, Haradrim, Easterling or even Undead. Some confusion also arose because Gothmog is a name carried by the Lord of Balrogs; showing that he was probably meant to be a Ringwraith. However, In Peter Jackson's film Return of the King, Gothmog was portrayed as a hideously deformed one-eyed Orc with his mouth crooked, only one nostril, and one ear. He also was castellan of Minas Morgul. He served as the top orc commander at the siege of Minas Tirith, ordering the use of catapults and siege towers as well as the Grond siege engine. He was caught up in the retreat when the riders of Rohan plowed through the orc army. In the extended edition, Gothmog is seen attempting to kill Éowyn, but his arm is chopped off by Aragorn and he is cut in the stomach by Gimli son of Gloin and then slain by Aragorn. The Great Goblin The Great Goblin was a Goblin leader who lived in the Misty Mountains during the Third Age, as recounted in The Hobbit. His followers captured Thorin, Bilbo and company during the quest for the Lonely Mountain, and took them to their underground stronghold, Goblin-town. He was slain by Gandalf. He may have been a Maiar himself, because many Maiar could take on any physical form they desired (and often reflective of their personalities). Grishnákh An Orc captain from the ashen wastes of Mordor, Grishnákh was part of a group of Orc hunters under Sauron's dominion that joined Uglúk's Uruk-hai troop on the plains of Rohan. Grishnákh's plans for the troops' captives, Merry and Pippin, were in conflict with Uglúk's orders to deliver them to Saruman. Believing they might have the treasure his lord sought, he tried to steal the Hobbits away from the Uruk-hai in order to take what they had for himself; eventually leading to his death. In The Lord of the Rings ''movies, he first was wounded by a Rider's spear, afterwards he chased the hobbits into Fangorn Forest and was crushed when stepped on by Treebeard. In Sierra Entertainment's ''War of the Ring real-time strategy game, he is a playable hero. Lagduf Lagduf was an Orc of the tower of Cirith Ungol under the command of Shagrat; he and Muzgash were killed by Gorbag's Orcs in the battle over Frodo's mithril-shirt. Muzgash Muzgash was an Orc of the tower of Cirith Ungol under the command of Shagrat; he and Lagduf were killed by Gorbag's Orcs in the battle over Frodo's Mithril-shirt. Radbug Radbug was an Orc, probably of a patrol from the tower of Cirith Ungol, who was killed by Shagrat in the battle over Frodo's Mithril-shirt. Shagrat had squeezed his eyes out, according to the aforesaid. Shagrat Shagrat was the Orc in command of the tower of Cirith Ungol, which guarded a pass into Mordor. In the movie, he is portrayed as an orc with bluish paint on his face. After the discovery of the unconscious Frodo, he had Frodo put into the highest room of the tower. In a dispute over Frodo's Mithril Shirt, most of Shagrat's and Gorbag's Orcs were killed. Shagrat was one of only two Orc survivors. He took the mithril-shirt, as well as Frodo's Elven cloak and Sam's sword, to the Barad-dûr. These were used by the Mouth of Sauron as evidence of Frodo's capture. Shagrat may have been killed for his failure by Sauron or died at the Black Gate. Snaga For the orc-breed term, see Snagae '' Most minor Orcs were called Snaga, but '''Snaga' is the name of two different Orcs actually mentioned in The Lord of the Rings: 1. Snaga was an orc that accompanied Grishnakh to make sure Lurtz and his raiding party completed the task of bringing the One Ring to Saruman in The Two Towers. 2. In Return of the King, Snaga is the only surviving subordinate of Shagrat after the battle over Frodo's mithril-shirt at The Tower of Cirith Ungol. He dies after falling through the trap-door. Ufthak Ufthak was in the service of the Tower of Cirith Ungol, under the command of Shagrat. He was captured, poisoned, and then forgotten by Shelob. Nonetheless, his fellow Orcs who discovered him made no attempt to rescue him, for they were humored at his hanging and they didn't want to interfere with Shelob. Non-canonical orcs Gorkil Gorkil is a hero in the game Battle for Middle-earth II for the goblin faction and rides a rare giant scorpion. He was killed by Glorfindel and Gloin during an assault on his fortress in the Ettenmoors. Murgash This orc only appears in the films as a non-canon character. He was a Morannon Orc under the command of Gothmog at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. He was ordered by Gothmog to break down the gates of Minas Tirith, but complained that they were too strong, making Gothmog order Grond to be brought up to the gates. He survived the Rohirim charge and went with Guritz to the docks. He was killed when the Army of the Dead swarmed on to the Corsair ships. Sharku Appearing only in the film adaptation of The Two Towers, Sharku is the leader of Saruman's Warg-riders. Sharku means "old man" in the language of Saruman's servants and may be a designation that he is an elder. However, in the book Sharku refers to Saruman himself, modified to "Sharkey". Etymology In Tolkien's Sindarin language, "Orc" is orch, plural yrch. In his late, post-''Lord of the Rings'' writings (published in The Peoples of Middle-earth), he preferred the spelling "Ork", evidently mainly to avoid the form Orcish, which would be naturally pronounced with the c as /s/ instead of /k/. (In Tolkien's languages the letter c'' was always pronounced /k/.) It is also possible that the word is a Common Tongue Version of 'orch', the Sindarin word for Orc. The original sense of the word seems to be "bogey", "bogeyman", that is, something that provokes fear, as seen in the Quenya cognate ''urko, pl. urqui. In the old English Orc means "demon." Trivia/Related Trivia *In the film adaptation of The Return of the King, when the orcs breach Minas Tirith (shown after Shelob is defeated by Sam), at least four of the orcs have a color scheme like that of Darth Maul from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace with red and black faces resembling the character. *The term "Ork" is an Old English term for a dirty creature which is used occasionally in the epic poem Beowulf. Tolkien clarified the similarity to Orcus (as in Killer Whales) was coincidental. *Much like Halflings, Tolkien's orcs for the basis for many modern fantasy interpretations of the same name (D&D's orcs, Wacraft's Horde, Dragon Age's Darkspawn, etc.). They are generally depicted as fierce fighters and hot-blooded whether they are vicious monsters, honorable heroes, or even comic relief. *Possibly because "Porc" is a cognate of "orc", it was common to see orc-type monsters depicted with piglike faces. *In Lord of the Rings Online from monster player class,a larger breed of Uruk hai called "Shakh hai" were created for LOTRO only. They were possibly Uruks bred with Half-orcs. *Many other fantasy worlds, e.g. Elder Scrolls, RuneScape and Dungeons & Dragons, have orcs as a monstrous and/or barbaric race, based mostly off of Tolkein's interpretation because he didn't trademark the word. * References *The Silmarillion: Quenta Silmarillion *The Hobbit *The Lord of the Rings *Unfinished Tales: The Disaster of the Gladden Fields *The Complete Guide to Middle-earth *The Atlas of Middle-earth pgs. 40-1 & 187-88 External links * *[http://forums.theonering.com/viewtopic.php?t=72521&sid=4b2986fdb96a5cf5d49bd2d1eff57f0f An analysis of Orcs, from the www.theonering.com messageboards.] de:Orks nl:Orks pl:Orkowie ru:Орки Category:Races Category:Orcs Category:Villains Category:Servants of Sauron Category:Servants of Morgoth Category:Minions of Angmar Category:Agents of Saruman Category:Misty Mountain creatures